MICF 2018 review: A hilarious jaunt through the history of theatre

Garry Elizabeth Starr is on a mission to save theatre. Armed with a Tudor ruff, leather jacket and a whole lot of cheek, he’s collated a smorgasbord of stage arts from centuries past and put them all together in one show, in hopes they won't fade from our memories forever.

From Shakespeare to melodrama, slapstick to circus nouveau, it's perhaps more of a random selection than a canon: the ancient Greeks and opera don't get a look in, for example, but Japanese Butoh does.

As far as the comedy is concerned, it hardly matters. The pace is quick, the laughs are thick, and no one in the front row escapes the need for a co-Starr.

His interpretation of the Pinter pause is perfect; he'll even give ballet a crack, so to speak.

Theatre people will love the in-jokes, but Starr’s comic sensibility has broad appeal. You might even learn a thing or two.